Photo blog: Shooting the election, before and after

I normally shoot sports, but with all the craziness with the election I decided to try something new and shoot something a little more journalistic.

On election night, I decided to go to the bar where the College Dems often gathered because I, like the overwhelming majority of polls, thought Hillary would win. I made one of my favorite shots of the week as a state was called for Hillary.

The girl in the foreground exhaled in relief as another person cheered. I think the contrast in emotions is powerful.

As the night went on and it became more and more evident that Trump would win, I switched from shooting wide-angle to getting tighter shots concentrating on people's expressions, like the one below.

I made my absolute favorite picture of the week at the wedding of two women at the Athens County Courthouse.

I didn't find out about the wedding until about an hour before it started. I knew I wanted to get a picture with the two brides and the crowd in the background. As soon as the ceremony started (they were waiting for grandma), I ran up the steps of the courthouse and waited for the ladies to kiss and seal the deal. As soon as they went in for the kiss, I realized that I was on the wrong side of the woman leading the ceremony and, so I shifted over to the other side of her before the kiss stopped. Shooting that wedding was a much-needed pick-me-up after shooting all the doom and gloom at the Dems bar the night before.

Later that week, the International Socialist Organization put together an anti-Trump march. I showed up not really knowing what to expect, but by 7:15 almost 300 people gathered around the courthouse. After a few passionate speeches, the crowd began marching down Court Street. The biggest challenge with that event was the lighting — it was dark outside. I got my best picture from that night by literally sprinting ahead of the mob and camping out under a streetlight.

Shooting this whole election has been pretty eye-opening for me, being 18 years old and seeing how many people are so incredibly passionate about their country. I definitely want to cover more political events in the future and could even see myself going to D.C. to cover Trump’s inauguration — and the protests that will likely go with it.